ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 N181CS Louisburg-North Raleigh Airport, NC
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Sunday 6 September 2015
Time:15:30
Type:Silhouette image of generic DHC6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200
Operator:Rampart Aviation
Registration: N181CS
MSN: 181
First flight: 1968-12-06 (46 years 10 months)
Total airframe hrs:26915
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-20
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Louisburg-North Raleigh Airport, NC (   United States of America)
Phase: Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:Executive
Departure airport:Louisburg-North Raleigh Airport, NC, United States of America
Destination airport:Louisburg-North Raleigh Airport, NC, United States of America
Narrative:
A DHC-6 Twin Otter, N181CS, sustained substantial damage during landing at Louisburg-North Raleigh Airport, North Carolina. The pilot and two passengers sustained serious injuries. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local business flight.
According to the pilot, the airplane was on the final leg of the traffic pattern when he reduced the power levers in order to descend further for landing, and he noticed that the right engine sounded like "the [propeller] was heading towards beta." The pilot increased the engine power and the sound "went away." Closer to the runway, he decreased engine power and the noise was heard again, the airplane yawed to the right, and he applied left aileron and rudder inputs in order to remain on the runway centerline. Over the runway, the pilot reduced the engine power to idle and the airplane "pushed hard to the right." Then, the pilot applied full power in an attempt to perform a go-around maneuver; however, the airplane yawed about 30 degrees off the runway centerline, the airplane touched down in the grass, and impacted trees prior to coming to rest.
During the accident sequence, the wings and fuselage were substantially damaged.

A postaccident examination of the maintenance logs indicated that an overhauled propeller was installed on the right engine and a test flight was performed on September 4, 2015, which was 8.7 flight hours prior to the accident.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: " The propeller's movement to the beta position during landing for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident examination and testing, which resulted in an attempted go-around and subsequent loss of airplane control."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 269 days (9 months)
Accident number: ERA15LA343
Download report: Summary report

Classification:
Loss of control

Sources:
» NTSB


Photos

photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-200-N181CS
accident date: 06-09-2015
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200
registration: N181CS
photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-200-N181CS
accident date: 06-09-2015
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200
registration: N181CS
photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-200-N181CS
accident date: 06-09-2015
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200
registration: N181CS
photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-200-N181CS
accident date: 06-09-2015
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200
registration: N181CS
 

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This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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